Last year the Cook wolf pack came seemingly out of nowhere and killed a minimum of 82 sheep in western Idaho near Burgdorf. The pack seemed not to be deterred by gunfire or guard dogs. Wildlife Services was intent eliminating the pack, but the pack lacked radio collars.

Efforts at termination the pack ended, however, after only a pup was radio collared and 2 pack members shot. Talking Idaho's federal wolf manager Carter Niemeyer on the 23rd, the reason for ending the control actions last year was that Ron Gillet and his anti-wolf folks came to the area to make a video of the dead sheep, and they so much got in the way of control operations that the wolf pack disappeared so Wildlife Services went home.

Over the winter, members of the Cook Pack were finally collared in case they repeated their depredations, and they did. When sheep returned to the area this summer this unusual pack of nine wolves (no pups) hit the sheep again and killed about 100 more before Wildlife Services, now equipped with radio tracking of the pack, gunned all nine down from a helicopter.

The Cook Pack has killed more sheep than any other wolf pack in Idaho since they were reintroduced in 1995. Here are the dead sheep total figures for each year: 1995 - 0; 1996 - 24; 1997 - 29; 1998 - 6; 1999 - 64; 2000 - 48; 2001 - 54; 2002 - 15; 2003 - 118; 2004 (so far) over 100. You can really see the impact of the Cook Pack beginning in 2003 -- 118 sheep versus just 15 the previous year.

Neimeyer told me on the 23rd that the sheep operators were very cooperative and were doing things right in his opinion, with numerous guard dogs, firing cracker shells, moving the sheep, etc.. Ed Bangs described the situation:  "The [sheep] operator had already been issued cracker shells, rubber bullets, and RAG boxes.  The [Nez Perce] Tribe monitored and hazed the wolves and with WS, issued equipment and training to the herders and attempted to trap wolves but unfortunately these efforts did not stop further depredations from occurring. The Cook pack continued to use areas in vicinity of two sheep bands north of McCall, ID.  It was  monitored on a daily basis, hazing wolves from sheep bands, coordinating with cooperators, producers, and herders, and providing herders with radio-receivers to help them know when wolves are close to sheep.   Losses continued and a control action on the 20th removed all 9 pack members by helicopter gunning.

A number of news stories called the Cook Pack, the largest pack in Idaho. I don't know what pack is the largest in Idaho at present, but I serious doubt it was the Cook Pack even though Idaho packs tend to be smaller than those of Yellowstone Park.

Now that the Cook Pack is gone, will the sheep loss end? Well probably not and several more packs which have taken some sheep are in jeopardy.  Last year the nearby Hazard Lake Pack took 7-10 sheep. This year the Hazard Lake Pack and the Partridge Pack have killed a few of the 16,000 sheep in the area, and more control actions may be imminent.

A good question is, why has this happened all of a sudden?  Apparently the area around McCall, Idaho has become better elk habitat because the massive forest fires of recent years have increased the forage for the elk population. It might also just be chance that about 5 wolf packs have taken up territories in this western Idaho area. Couple that with the fact that the area has also always had a lot of domestic sheep (many of my friends say "too many" sheep). Nevertheless, the killing of almost 200 sheep by the Cook Pack stands out as very unusual. It makes other wolf depredations seem almost trivial, which indeed they are compared to other factors that result in dead sheep such as poison plants, coyotes, dogs, disease.

Survival of wolves in this part of Idaho is very important because these are the wolves next to Oregon, and which are going to provide dispersers to that state soon, something the Wolf Recovery Foundation believe Oregon needs, and most Oregonians want.

Here is the story on the Cook Pack from last year. "Wolves kill numerous sheep near Burgdorf, Idaho."

Here is a story on the termination of the Cook Pack from the Idaho Statesman on July 23, 2004. "Federal agents kill wolf pack north of McCall. Since June 1, nine wolves had killed 100 sheep.' By Pete Zimowsky.

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